Kitchin-Physick:
OR, Advice to the POOR, By way of DIALOGUE Betwixt Philantbropos, } { Physician, Eugenins, } { Apothecary, Lazarus } { Patient. WITH Rules and Directions, how to prevent sick-ness, and cure Diseases by Diet, and such things as are daily fold in the Market : As also, for the better enabling of Nurses, and such as attend sick people ; There be-ing nothing as yet extant (though much desired of this Nature. (one long horizontal line) Parve nec invideo, &c. Ovid de Trift. (one long horizontal line) London, Printed for J.B. who desires the Reader to take notice that he is the next week to return this Book to the Clark, or pay 12d. [the whole text surrounded by a double line border].
FIRST EDITION 1675. 12vo. 150 x 95mm. Ex-Libris label on front paste-down. Ex-Libris label of "W. William Cock M.D." dated 1899 tipped onto the 1st fep. A 2nd fep. Title page. [1] p4 Epistle Dedicatory, by "Thom. Cocke". 1-4 Advertisement to the Patient. 5-87. Last page is printed: "Finis part the first". [1] 1fep. Pages age browned with a few spots of foxing. Pages cropped on top without loss. Dark brown early calf boards. Chips missing to leather spine. Front joint with loss of leather. Holding well, not detracting. Gilt tooling and lettering on maroon leather label and spine. Has a nice patina.
- This is a book of food recipes that have been written as a dialogue rather than a list. The four chapters cover the four metabolic humors in the body according to the theory and practice of Greek Medicine. Thomas Cocke seems to have been a sincere, sympathetic and experienced Physician of his time. The book itself and publishing dates are frustrating to tie down. What little information there is confuses. Oxford p3. 8/39 has a dated copy printed for the Author, by T. Basset at the George near Clifford's Inne in Fleet Street. 1676. He carries on and states that "the book is rules for the use of food", Describing the title page of the second part as a "Practical and short Discourse of stoving and bathing". There is also a plate of a bath and the preface is signed by Thomas Cocke, but there is no stated date. Beside this dated first part and undated second part of Oxford's copy, we can on p435 of Cagle's huge bibliographical catalogue 'A Matter of Taste', see another copy, with his first part also undated but the second part present and dated 1675. Cagle curiously assumes dates for both parts of the first edition as 1675. He further informs that Wing gives separate numbers for each part. All of the first parts end with "Finis part the first", with the two parts usually bound together. The first and only edition of the second part, 'Miscelanea Medica', was issued together with several later editions of 'Kitchin Physick'. Its ventured that some of the first editions did not always appear with the second part bound in. This copy could to be one of those. This binding is later 18th century and does not appear to have had the 2nd part. It also does not make sense to have the two parts originally bound together then separate them. It is also very curious that the first part of Cagle's first edition is undated while his 1675 second part is. The first conclusion one can make is that the parts were written and printed separately by Thomas Cocke and bound together later. This would also explain why Cocke published later dated editions of the first part but only used the one dated second part of the first edition. The second conclusion is that Cocke published the undated first earlier than 1675, and was working on a second part that came later. That would also explain why p87 on every first part, ends with "Finis part the first". He always intended to add a second part. There is one other interesting fact about this copy. The large ex-libris bookplate of F. William Cock MD, under which is written in his hand, (one assumes) an in-distinguishable coded reference. On the opposite front inside cover, 'By Thomas Cocke Physician', is written in ink by the same hand. One wonders whether they were related and William Cock M.D. had done some successful corroborative research. Finally, this is a small treatise on diet and cookery for sickness. These books cannot be separated from any collection of early cookery books. Except for the cookery books published for Royal Households, Restaurants, Taverns etc, that displayed only recipes for food, a large percentage of others, mainly 18th century published works combined food and medical recipes together. An interesting copy of a rare book.
click on image to enlarge
Antiquarian category
ref number:
11331